Florida State is still in position for the College Football Playoff. They are still there because they dug deep in a hostile environment with their 2nd and sometimes 3rd string QBs, and beat Florida 24-15.
The way the game started it looked like Florida would run Florida State out of the Swamp.
The Gators were up 12-0, and FSU QB Tate Rodemaker looked overwhelmed by the environment and the moment. If Jordan Travis had been playing QB for the Noles, you would have felt they were still very much in it. Tonight it looked dicey, but then Rodemaker and the FSU put together a 75-yard drive late in the 1st half to close the gap to 12-7. Florida missed a FG at the end of the 2nd qtr, and Florida State had weathered the storm.
FSU has a good defense, but on Saturday they had to be great. In the second half, they held Florida to 3 2nd half points and just 232 total yards in the game. Gradually the Noles began taking control of the game. They did it against LSU, they did it at Clemson, and they did it in the Swamp.
Backup QB Tate Rodemaker epitomized FSU’s toughness. In the 2nd half, he takes off on a QB run, and takes a brutal targeting hit. I thought Rodemaker was done for the night, but he returned and helped lead FSU to victory.
Jordan Travis didn’t play tonight, but the Noles have his fingerprints all over this team.
They never panicked and just kept fighting.
Now the Noles head to the ACCCG to face a dangerous but somewhat erratic 10-2 Louisville team.
FSU squarely has the playoffs in its sights, and anyone who says otherwise is simply not watching football. The ACC finished the regular season with a 6-4 record against the SEC, and a 4-3 record against the Big 10. Tell us again if the Noles win the ACC how they don’t belong in the playoffs when they would be the champion of the conference with a combined 10-7 record against the SEC and Big 10.
I’ll stop and listen…
